INA MENZER vs STACEY REILE

Earlier this month, “Killer Queen” flyweight Susi Kentikian blazed right through her Kansas City opponent, Mary Ortega, in one round. On Saturday another German-promoted female attraction is in action when women’s featherweight champion Ina Menzer defends her title against Stacey Reile, a 34-year-old from Miami. Another one-round win for the home fighter will not be happening on Saturday, but Menzer is a big favourite.

Born in Kazakhstan, Menzer is a well-schooled boxer who has won 20 bouts in a row, including a unanimous decision over the well-regarded Mexican veteran Laura Serrano.

Menzer’s fights tend to go the distance — just one stoppage win in her last seven bouts — but I think she might be able to get a rare inside-schedule win on Saturday.

Although Sandy Reile looked in fabulous condition in the press-conference photos from Germany, she has had only eight bouts and has never been past six rounds. She easily outpointed Maribel Santana in her last fight, but Santana had previously been stopped in four rounds by Menzer.

In her last fight, Menzer was badly cut over the eye against Sandy Tsagouris but boxed her way to a unanimous decision. There is probably as much interest in her fight as there is in the main event between Wladimir Sidorenko and Anselmo Moreno.

Menzer hopes to succeed Regina Halmich as the star of German women’s boxing, and it would be a shock indeed if she were to lose on Saturday. I expect a spirited showing from Reile and on paper this fight seems almost guaranteed to go 10 rounds, as Menzer is not regarded as a hard hitter. I think there is a big gulf in class here, however, and sometimes this translates to a stoppage win.

Reile is tough and game and will make a fight of it but I think there is a chance, if a slim one, that Menzer can win inside the distance if she can keep landing punches consistently. This just seems too big a step up in class for Reile.